Get ready for a mass sowing of hardy annual veg, such as spinach, carrots, beetroot, lettuce and radish. On heavy soil, integrate plenty of grit and organic matter. On freely drained soil, only muck and/or compost need to go in.

They’ll soon be tall enough to be knocked over by wind or heavy rain. If you can get your hands on some hazel or silver birch pea sticks, use them to weave a basket, which works just as well but looks so much nicer than metal or plastic.

4. Make sure you’ve got plenty of farmyard manure

Spread it around the base of yourroses. This helps strong growth and decreases the likelihood of infection with fungal disease.

You may have started these in modules in March, but it’s still not too late to plant shallot and onion sets if you forgot. It is important to move the onion bed around every year to prevent the build-up of diseases such as onion white rot, so don’t put them where you had any of the onion family last year. Plant the rooted sets 4in (10cm) apart with the same spacing between the rows. They thrive in a sunny, well-drained situation. Keep weed-free, especially early on.

6. Pot on tomatoes

It’s tempting to movetomatoes from a module or seed tray straight into their final, large planting pot, but this slows growth. Tomatoes like to feel contained and cosy; their roots can’t cope with a large volume of compost and tend to rot. Pot them only one size up and add a cane at their side to support them as they grow.

Easy job: you can divide globe artichokes without digging up the mother plant (ALAMY)

You can do this without digging up the whole plant. Both form distinctive satellite plants from the root base. Slice off one or two of these and replant - with plenty of organic matter in the hole - and you’ll have multiplied your stock with almost no disturbance to the mother plant.

9. Keep on top of the weeds now

You’ll save yourself hours of work later on in the year. It’s particularly the early flowerers and self-seeders such as bittercress and groundsel which you need to hoe off and collect before they spread themselves willy-nilly.

10. Last chance to cut back shrubs

Especially those grown for colourful winter stems (e.g. dogwood, willow). Cut back to buds about knee height, then feed and mulch. You can use the offcuts as new propagating material. Take foot-long cuttings and sink them into the ground to about 9in (23cm) depth.